Heavyweight titles … the new Zelda game will be launched on the Nintendo Switch among other anticipated games.
Photograph: Nintendo

Nintendo’s next console looks like it may just be the Nintendo console we’ve all been waiting for – at least since the Wii U was consigned to being the dustiest thing on our shelves. Eccentric, interesting, boasting widespread industry support and with a focus on portability that plays to Nintendo’s considerable strengths (Game Boy, DS, 3DS ...), the Switch is the veteran company’s attempt to reinvent gaming. Again.

Some of the biggest reveals from the Nintendo Direct broadcast included: the re-introduction of cartridge games, similar to those used in the 3DS; the fact that Bethesda’s Skyrim remaster will be coming to the system, which is huge; and the removable side controls that can be slotted into a larger controller or used on their own as tiny little handheld gadgets that look like they may well cramp up podgier fingers in a few short minutes. They’re called Joy-Cons, a controversial naming decision which reminds some of the old Namco Jogcon pads and others of a euphemism for injuring yourself during sex.

While Wii U drew a handful of third-party triple A titles – including Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed III – due to the machine’s limited processing power compared to the Xbox One and the PS4, those games were delayed, scaled down or just forgotten about, as fans opted for the consoles that have been home to those games for years.

Now, however, we’re seeing Skyrim on a Nintendo console. This would have been almost unimaginable five years ago. It’s hard to decide what the most important part of this is: Nintendo branching out into huge third-party franchises? Bethesda reaching out to Nintendo, forming what could be a lucrative future partnership? The graphical capability on the Switch finally matching Sony and Microsoft’s consoles? Being able to play Skyrim on the go? Seeing Nintendo finally realise how to market itself in a smart way? Or, perhaps, it’s all of the above. Whatever, it’s an incredibly exciting time to be a Nintendo fan.

The Switch trailer focused on the console’s portability above all, showcasing the different combinations of controller. There are the Joy-Cons, then the Joy-Con Grip, which turns two controllers into a larger more conventional pad, (that also somewhat resembles a goofy dog), and most importantly, the screen-plus-Joy-Cons format that allows for ultimate portability.

Some are already worried that the constant swapping and changing of the console’s detachable bits might lead to breakages, and though Nintendo consoles have never been as low-quality as, say, the DualShock 4’s disintegrating analogue pads, it’s a valid concern.

The trailer also showed the wide variety of locations you will be able to play in, suggesting that the Switch-screen-plus-Joy-Cons can be used without mains power or the internet. There were games being played in a park, on a plane, in the toilet – all very important locations.

There’s no price point on the Switch yet, but given Nintendo’s history with hardware launches (it has often cut back on costs by using cheaper components and materials than its competitors), it’s likely to come in at around the £300 mark. The processor is a custom version of Nvidia’s Tegra processor, usually found in smartphones and tablets. It’s not as powerful as the Xbox One or PS4, but Nintendo’s priorities have never been geared towards graphical capabilities, concentrating instead on form-factor, and innovative interfaces – the Wii Remote being the classic example.

On the negative side: custom-built hardware is a pain for developers to master and support: this may limit the machine’s role in major multi-platform release schedules and could also put many smaller studios off.

Ben Cousins (@BenjaminCousins)

Who else is excited about developing for a low resolution Tegra tablet with stick on controls and physical media? Hell yeah!

However, the fact that this is a custom-built version of the Tegra means it’s at least optimised for this new machine, meaning – in theory – that developers will be able to garner greater performance from the chipset more easily. More importantly, using smartphone/tablet-orientated tech should mean increased battery life.

The tricky thing, and the thing we don’t know much about yet, is whether the Switch will have a strong enough launch lineup of games. This was one of the aspects that let the Wii U down – although games like Zombi U and Nintendoland were excellent, they weren’t enough to drive consumers to the shops.

The new 3D Mario is more of an unknown quantity, given the scant few seconds of footage teased in the trailer, but it looks like no Mario game we’ve seen before. It has the glorious lighting and vivid colours of Mario Kart 8 and the more recent Color Splash, and the 3D platforming open-world look of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World. Some have even pointed out that there are rings. Now, where have we seen rings before …?

Chris Schilling (@schillingc)

Two things about that snippet of Mario Switch footage:1. Triple-jump is back!2. Rings. Sonic-like rings, in fact.

How will the new console fare for indies, though? Nintendo is notably lacklustre at supporting the independent game scene, whereas Sony and Microsoft both have initiatives to do so. Though it looks like the hardware will be off-putting to many, some smaller studios – mostly those that Nintendo has worked with in the past – are stepping up to the challenge. Image & Form – the developer behind the incredible Steamworld Dig and Steamworld Heist – is on that list.

Despite patchy support, the Wii U did host an array of exciting indie titles that could have been hits had they enjoyed a larger install base to market to. Games like Teslagrad, Scram Kitty, Affordable Space Adventures and Swords & Soldiers II were all very strong, and deserved greater acknowledgement than they received. Perhaps the Switch will be a more stable home.

Nintendo’s focus, though, seems to be on the market that spans handheld and home consoles, and games like Skyrim and Breath of the Wild that have the space (and the budget) to stretch out far and wide. From the trailer, it looks like the target demographic is 20-somethings with unreasonably large living rooms and a desire to take their games on the go.

Nintendo has learned from the mistakes of the disastrous Wii U, with a GamePad that promised a degree of portable gaming, but the unit relied on its proximity to the host machine. Photograph: Yuya Shino/Reuters

It’s an interesting move for a company that so often tries to play on the nostalgia of its older fans – but Nintendo has been attempting to break into that younger market for a while, with their varying levels of success in mobile games and toys-to-life.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the Switch just yet – but it does look like Nintendo has learned from the mistakes of the rather disastrous Wii U. That machine’s GamePad promised a degree of portable gaming, but the unit relied on its proximity to the host machine. Switch offers the freedom of a contained handheld unit with the performance and living room appeal of a console. It will be interesting to see if it will have the array of streaming video apps that we’ve become accustomed to from modern machines. We also don’t know if it’s a touchscreen or not.

Nintendo says it will reveal more information before the March launch. After the indifference that has haunted the Wii U, the fact that the Switch generated as much hype and interest as the Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer suggests that this is a whole different proposition. Right now, the important thing isn’t that there are questions to be answered, it’s that people want to ask them.